Developer who plotted escape after fatal crash gets prison

Oct. 19, 2017

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A New York real estate developer caught trying to flee to South America following a fatal car crash in the Hamptons has been sentenced to three to nine years in state prison.

Forty-four-year-old Sean Ludwick pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a fatal crash and aggravated driving while intoxicated and was sentenced on Wednesday.

Prosecutors say Ludwick's blood-alcohol content was more than double the state's legal limit for driving.

The August 2015 crash in Sag Harbor killed 53-year-old Paul Hansen.

Ludwick was free on bail when he was captured in Puerto Rico last year negotiating to buy a $400,000 sailboat to flee to South America. An FBI agent moonlighting as a sailing instructor became suspicious and contacted authorities.